The deck.......

6:58 am - Saturday - November 16th - Ramona, CA - 42° F, 89% humidity, wind - CALM......clear, blue skies today with a forecast high of 84° F.

I began Friday with an early morning ride on my new Haibike SDURO mountain bike.  Haibikes are designed and engineered by a German firm, but manufactured in China.  The engineering of the electric motor assist bike is way above average, but the price is much more affordable than most comparable electric assist MTB's being sold today.  It has a 500 watt battery, and a Yamaha motor which can help power you along your route for up to 60 miles on one charge depending on the assist level you utilize.  The bike will top out at 20 mph on the highest assist level.  The bike I bought weighs in at about 50 lbs. compared to the 22 lbs. my Intense 5.5 weighed.  You can choose one of four assist levels depending on terrain, grade, etc.  The lowest assist level basically counteracts the added weight and makes you feel like you are riding a 22 lb. bike.  The next level up makes it possible for me to ride up to the microwave tower without stopping, or pushing the bike.  Even with this assist level there were a few times I thought I might have to move to the next assist level, but I didn't, and made it to the top without stopping.  I still got the workout I was looking for, but was able to cover more ground......

.....the 6" of travel in the front and rear shocks made the downhill portion of the ride smooth as silk, and the Magura hydraulic disc brakes with large rotors were significantly more than adequate than I expected.  I, of course, bought a slightly used bike with about 500 miles on it.  Doing so saved me over $1,000, and I still got the bike I wanted.  Being able to test ride Rich's Haibike SDURO really helped me make the decision to buy this bike, and has re-energized my love for mountain biking at 70 years old!

Friday's work consisted solely of fixing the deck/stairs on cabin #24, which had pulled away from the cabin about 2".......

 Before we pulled the deck back the gap between the stairs and the cabin was over 2" wide

......we utilized two 12 ton bottle jacks to lift up the deck before we pulled it back to the cabin using my come-along winch......

Internet picture of a come-along winch

....we put a chain around two of the support posts, and attached one end of the come-along winch to it, and the other end to the main 'I' beam of the cabin......

 We raised the deck about 2" before putting 12"x 12" pavers under each pier

......we removed a couple of planks on the deck so we could use 6" wood screws to reattach the headers to the main deck.....

....it took 3 hours in all to do the job, but we were successful!  All four guys (Rich, Dave, Alika and moi) were on the job.  At noon we knocked off for hamburgers and hot dogs courtesy RORVR......sweet.  By the time lunch was over it was time for TLE and I to head home for the day.

I spent the rest of the afternoon doing some minor modifications on my new mountain bike.  The handle bars that come with the bike are way too long, so I first removed the brake levers, shifters and grips, then cut 3" off each end to make them the same length as the handlebars on my Intense 5.5.  Next up I wanted to raise my stem a about an inch, so I removed the stem and installed two more spacers under it to raise it up a little higher.

By the time I finished working on the bike it was closing in on 3 pm, so I headed home to take a shower before shuttling TLE into town to her Chiropractic appointment with Dr. Turpin.  She has been complaining about pain in her neck and right shoulder for a few months now, and Marnie (office manager at RORVR) recommended her to Dr. Turpin.  This was her third appointment, but my first time accompanying her.  After she finished getting her latest adjustment we headed further into town to get a new watch battery for my Nixon chronograph.  The batteries on this watch do not even last 2 years, which is kind of disappointing, but it is what it is.  Fortunately TLE had found an online coupon at a local store granting the bearer one free battery.....cool!  We were back home a little after 5 pm and settling into our weekend of leisure.

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